Feast of the Holy Family B 2014

            Scripture provides very few details about the boyhood and coming of age years of Jesus. We know from scripture that, for the first thirty years of his life—90% of his time on earth—Jesus lived a very ordinary family life with Mary and Joseph.  He grew up in a town called Nazareth where he became strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. The young Jesus was not a willful child or a rebellious teen, but was obedient to his parents.  He behaved as he should have.  He did chores around the house.  He studied Scripture as well as his school lessons, and he went to the Temple with his parents at the appropriate times. 

            As he grew older, Jesus worked with Joseph and earned his living as was expected at the time. Throughout his life, Jesus never travelled more than 200 miles from his home, even after he began his public ministry.  Jesus experienced a normal growing up process, both physically and mentally, that most everyone goes through.  All of this shows that Jesus placed a great deal of importance on ordinary living.

            The ordinary life of Jesus was holy because he was dedicated to God from the moment of his conception.  In the same way, our ordinary lives are also holy.  Indeed, the feast of the Holy Family shows that ordinary living is sacred living.  We celebrate this feast during the Christmas season, for this is a very holy time of year when family takes on special meaning and importance. 

            We tend to think of family in very traditional terms of mother, father, and children—all of whom reside together in one household and are related by marriage, birth or adoption.  We know the reality is often very different, but we hang on to this ideal because thinking this way keeps us in our comfort zone.

            Jesus makes it clear, however, that our relationship with each other in the household of God is spiritual rather than biological.  He reveals his view of family in particular when he responds to someone who says to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”  Jesus responds with the question, “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?  And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother’” (Mt 12:47-50).   

            The message is clear.  For Jesus, natural kinship is only “half” the story.  Jesus’ “whole” family includes all those who do the will of his heavenly Father.  With this response, Jesus shows that we are a spiritual family in the household of God, united in ways that enlarge the traditional terms of family.

              In his letter to the Colossians, Paul calls attention to what life in the household of God means in ordinary, practical terms.  According to Paul, we are equal “citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God…For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom 8:14-17). As a result, Paul says we are to put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…bearing with one another and forgiving one another…and above all, we are to put on love (Col 3:12).     

            From this ordinary standpoint, we should experience our own families as safe havens.  Just as the baby Jesus found rescue and safety with his family, we too should find rescue and safety in our families.  Family is the place to find love and acceptance, encouragement and support, freedom from psychological and physical abuse.  Family is where we should find mercy and forgiveness, and a less critical eye than the world brings to bear.  Family is where we can learn genuine love for God and for others.

            Genuine love means taking an active regard for those around us.  And we can do this in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  We can bring the love of Christ to others in our own families and in our spiritual family.  Our words and actions can be life-giving and life-affirming.  We can inspire others to search for truth and abandon old, destructive ways.  We can be open to all people, especially the foreigner and the stranger.   Sometimes all it takes is a simple act of kindness—just being there when somebody needs you.

            This is what the feast of the Holy Family means—showing love for others in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  Ordinary living is sacred living.